


Into the Water

by MelyndaR



Series: Broken Together [2]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-12 02:22:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7916704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelyndaR/pseuds/MelyndaR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peggy was right; Ana did know how to swim, and he had to wonder how his wife was going to navigate this so-called lesson as a whole. As recently as 1945, Ana had loved the water… but after the war ended, they had heard of how Jews in Budapest had been rounded up and shot into the Danube, and the idea had firmly wormed its way into her nightmares as a new way for her to imagine her family dying. She hadn’t been in a body of water bigger than a bathtub since.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Into the Water

Warm water sloshed onto Edwin’s back, and he yelped at the unexpected sensation, throwing his book, standing, and spinning around to face his assailant all in one move. “Miss Carter!” he objected sharply.

Peggy stood there on the beach with hands dripping wet, grinning unrepentantly across from him. “I told you not long ago,” she reminded him happily. “Call me Peggy. We are… more than we once were, are we not?”

“Of course, _Peggy_ ,” Edwin had to bite back the urge to roll his eyes. “But one will forgive me if I default to an old habit in the middle of being _attacked._ ”

Peggy laughed outright at that. “We are on the _beach_ , Edwin; _everyone_ is supposed to get in the water at least once. Besides,” she tossed her hair in a show of faux arrogance, and then he had to resist the urge to smile. _Quite counterproductive when he was supposed to be perturbed with his new girlfriend._ “I warned you and Ana both I would find a way to get you into the water, didn’t I?”

“And I warned _you_ that wouldn’t happen, didn’t I?”

_Even more so when it came to Ana, but still…_

“I will win,” Peggy said determinedly, before setting off to search the beach for seashells.

“No, you won’t,” Edwin replied under his breath, fondly shaking his head as he scooped his book from the sand, dusted it off, sat back down in his beach chair, and resumed his reading.

A couple of minutes passed… and then he felt a drop of water hit the back of his neck. A shiver coursed through him, but he ignored it and turned to the next page in his book. Five seconds later, another drop of water hit his neck, and then another… and another… and another.

“If you don’t stop,” he announced without looking up from his book. “I shall be forced to complain to Ana when she comes back from getting the picnic basket from the car.”

“Maybe you should’ve gotten the basket for us, and then I could be torturing her instead of you,” Peggy suggested cheerfully.

She was in an absolutely splendid mood over this visit to the Oceanside, and Edwin couldn’t decide whether to be amused or irritated with her childish antics. He settled for looking over his shoulder at her and inquiring, “So you do freely admit that you’re _torturing_ me?”

She nodded, absolutely _beaming_ at him in a way that screamed of further mischief – and threw a handful of water straight at his face. He surged to his feet, spluttering, and did his best to grab her over the back of the beach chair, but she only backed away, laughing gleefully.

“Margaret Elizabeth Carter!” he called, wiping water out of his eyes.

“Yes?” she cajoled in return, walking backwards away from him.

He reached down and scooped up a handful of sand, fully meaning to drop it down the back of her one-piece bathing suit, and growled, “Come here.”

“I don’t think I will,” she replied happily, feeling completely unthreatened even as he advanced on her.

He wasn’t really angry, and they both knew it, but… well, it was alright to pretend, and revenge would be sweet nonetheless. He sprang forward, and she shrieked before wheeling and running from him. What was a man to do but give chase?

… _Straight into the water._

Edwin didn’t realize until he was already waist deep in it that she had run straight for the ocean… and he had followed her in. She dove down into the water, starting to swim, and reemerged behind him, declaring jubilantly, “I told you I would win; you, Edwin Jarvis, are _in the water_.”

Before he could reply, she jumped onto his back – an attempt at an impromptu piggyback ride, he suspected – and sent them both toppling down headfirst. They both broke the surface of the water, only to hear a familiar laugh ringing out from the water’s edge.

Edwin smiled to himself at the way Peggy lit up at the sound, her gaze scanning the coast for one woman in particular. Her smile widened as she caught sight of Ana watching the two of them from the beach.

Peggy waved her towards the water, beckoning, “Come in, Ana; the water’s perfectly warm!”

 _That wouldn’t do_ , Edwin decided instantly. No need to put either of his women in a position that would make them uncomfortable. Peggy’s relationship with them was still new, and Ana had already made it clear to him that – no matter how much he disagreed with the possibly noble sentiment – she was not ready to simply rip Peggy’s blinders away and show all of her own not-so-physical scars to the other woman.

Silly, he thought, given what he knew of Peggy’s war record and past, but Ana was still Ana, and all she ever wanted to do was make sure that others were okay and well cared for, all the more when it came to Peggy. So he would support his wife’s wishes.

“She doesn’t know how to swim,” Edwin informed Peggy, ignoring the twinge of his conscience. _A lie for all of their sakes wasn’t_ terribly _bad, was it?_

“Oh,” Peggy’s eyebrows drew together, but she accepted his explanation, suggesting instead, “Shall we go join her for lunch, then?”

And that was that – at least until lunch was over and once again packed away. That was when Peggy turned to Ana and declared, “Edwin told me you don’t know how to swim.”

Ana glanced quickly at Edwin, then back towards Peggy, asking brightly, “He did, did he?”

Peggy nodded, and then added just as happily, “But I should like to teach you.”

Ana and Edwin both froze, and he saw the color drain from his wife’s cheeks by degrees as she turned her head to look out at the ocean. “Right now?”

“Yes,” Peggy’s eyebrows drew together as she realized that something was amiss. She reached for Ana’s hand, squeezing it gently as she asked, “Are you alright, love?”

Ana’s gaze whipped back to Peggy as she said quickly, “Yes, of course.”

Peggy looked to Edwin for… something, clearly still confused, but he kept his expression carefully blank. So she turned back to Ana, searching the redhead’s eyes as she said, “No, you’re not. What’s wrong? Did I- Did I say something?”

“No!” Ana objected. “No, you didn’t. In fact,” she straightened, drawing in a breath as she said resolutely, “If you’re willing to come with me, I would like to get in the water.”

Peggy still looked uncertain, but since Ana seemed more decided – if only barely steadier – she nodded. “Of course I will.” She stood up and offered Ana a hand up as well, remarking, “I have to admit, I find it a bit odd that you never learned to swim before now; I thought Budapest was a bit… renowned for its public pools.”

At that – a true fact, actually – Ana gave Peggy a thin smile that struggled to reach her eyes, and tugged the agent towards the ocean. Edwin waited until their backs were to him to let his eyebrows draw together with concern.

Peggy was right; Ana did know how to swim, and he had to wonder how his wife was going to navigate this so-called lesson as a whole. As recently as 1945, Ana had loved the water… but after the war ended, they had heard of how Jews in Budapest had been rounded up and shot into the Danube, and the idea had firmly wormed its way into her nightmares as a new way for her to imagine her family dying. She hadn’t been in a body of water bigger than a bathtub since.

Now, watching Peggy and Ana step into the water hand in hand, it was all he could do not to run up and take Ana’s other hand, join them simply to give her the moral support. But he trusted Peggy with his own life sometimes on a daily basis, and he had no doubt that she would keep Ana safe as well if something did go wrong. He made himself recline in his beach chair and simply watch.

And as he watched, they went farther out. At first, Peggy appeared to actually be attempting to teach Ana how to swim, but, as she slowly got over her nerves, Ana “caught on” immediately.

So the two women went even further out, so far that Edwin stared at them outright for fear of losing track of where they were in the ocean. Then they stopped swimming, and for a very long while appeared to be simply floating in the water, very close – perhaps even hand in hand – once more.

His curiosity spiked, and he would’ve loved to have been out there with them. _Perhaps Ana was actually explaining to Peggy…_ Because he wasn’t naive enough to think that Peggy couldn’t have caught onto the lie. It was more a matter of what Peggy would call them on, or what Ana might admit. There was no doubt in his mind that Peggy still believed something to be wrong.

Eventually his curiosity was put to rest when Ana and Peggy made their way back to the shore – and to him – hand in hand and shaking with cold, Ana with triumph and relief in her eyes, and Peggy trying and failing to seem like she wasn’t thinking as… _much_ as she was. He didn’t ask outright – and didn’t really care to, in any case – but he had a sneaking suspicion that Ana had told Peggy at least some of the truth while they were out in the water.

“Did you have a good time?” he asked them casually, offering each a towel once they were in arm’s reach.

“Yes,” Peggy replied, letting him situate a towel snuggly around her shoulders.

Ana moved in closer, hugging him tightly with wet bathing suit and all, as she nodded. “M-hm.”

He wrapped his arms around her without a second thought, letting the notion flicker absently through his mind that perhaps he ought to be grateful that Peggy and Ana had teamed up earlier and talked him into going shirtless for this outing. Stroking a hand over Ana’s soaked, free-flying hair, he met Peggy’s gaze over her head, and in that moment saw the real tumult dancing within her brown eyes.

 _Ana_ had _told her the truth about her fear of water, then_.

It was certainly just as well in his eyes – and worth mentioning that Ana was still smiling, despite whatever she had admitted to outside of Edwin’s hearing. This relationship between the three of them was still new, and they plainly still had a long way to go, but it was equally obvious that Ana considered this unexpected conquering of her fear to be a magnificent thing. She was smiling wide enough to outshine the sun – quite the feat during the California summertime.

Peggy, however, didn’t seem to have it in her to be less than thoughtful – _perhaps “pensive” was a better word_ – and while he understood, Edwin found that he hated to lose her giddy attitude from earlier. So he stretched one of his arms out to her, and found himself slightly surprised by how quickly she came, burrowing into him and Ana – and if she looked to be clinging a little tighter to Ana then she had before, he didn’t mind that. But he _did_ want to ease her mind all the same.

Running his hand along Peggy’s damp back, he reminded her, “Well, Peggy, it seems you’ve gotten your way – Ana and I both went in the water.”

“That you did,” Peggy replied, and suddenly there was a fierce pride in her eyes as she looked at Ana.

That, too, he understood very well.

Softly, Ana said to Peggy, “Thank you for that.”

“Thank you for loving me,” Peggy answered sincerely, lifting her hand to gently brush a lock of red hair out of Ana’s face.

Ana leaned into her touch with a soft smile. “Always.”


End file.
